I had just gotten home and let Bear out to romp Wednesday afternoon when he found a big grasshopper to torment.
He was so cute with his paw pounciness as the hopper repeatedly crept away only to be pulled back to where Bear could snuffle him.
"This Lab cuteness must be digitized and immortalized " I thought as I reached for my ever present camera.
About then, Bear let the hopper go and zipped around to the back side of the house. From the backyard I could hear a cacophony of cackles and crowing as he scattered the yard flock of banty chickens.
I could picture them flying high up into the live oaks and wild grape vines to look down and crow at Bear as he sniffed frantically below.
Once the roosters are out of his reach, they crow triumphantly as if they are "all that" for having eluded a nonflying canine.
Knowing that the chickens were due for their feeding, I walked in their general direction only to meet Bear herding the evil rooster Vader toward the porch.
Bear wasn't putting forth great effort, just cutting Vader off when he tried to get back to the flock.
It was perversely amusing seeing Vader all flustered (if you knew this evil back stabber, you'd enjoy his torment too). He's a bad bird.
I switched the camera to video, thinking you folks might get a kick out of watching Bear's antics .I was fully expecting Vader to fly up into the trees like he usually does.
Just as I swung the camera up, Bear lunged and grabbed Vader and took off!
I gave chase while filming (don't you love shaky action videos?) and soon we were up on the porch where a very determined Bear was gently, but very firmly clamping down on a very nervous Vader.
One of the commands Bear learned in Petsmart obedience school was "Leave It". That one is used to discourage the dog when he picks up something he's not supposed to have ... um, let's say something like a live rooster.
Definitely not supposed to have that.
"Leave it" wasn't going to work without a little physicality though ... Bear was really proud to have a rooster between his jaws. So I stuck my hand in there to pry a little as I gave the command.
This seemed to work and reluctantly, Bear dropped Vader, who immediately sprang up and ran off the porch.
No harm done ... except to Vader's ego.
You can watch the chase and subsequent release on this short 35 second video if you like.
Have a great Friday!
We will be battling rival Trenton in football tonight and unfortunately Junior is suffering from the same sore throat/runny nose cold I had about a week ago.
It could be a long day for him.
Tomorrow, I will head over to St. Auggie to tow the Escape back for a second opinion at our local Ford dealer. You probably have been worried sick not knowing what the Escape diagnosis was ... well, try $3400 worth of new tranny work.
So, I'm bringing the patient home for another looksee by our local experts.
Hope springs eternal.
One side note: If you are in the Gainesville area, the Williston Peanut Festival is tomorrow.
Free PB&J's as long as they last, plus a whole bunch of other cool peanutty stuff.
30 comments:
Bear doesn't look the least bit chastised in that video.
As for my household, no more Fords.
That is purely hilarious...Probably one of the funniest things I have seen on your blog, or anyone else's. I'm going to send the link to this post to some family.
I am sorry to hear about the Escape diagnosis. Let's just hope the guys in St. Auggie didn't know what they are talking about...It wouldn't be a first for them.
Ooh, we had a Vizsla once that was a chicken chaser. It is a hard habit to break. Once I ended up bringing a hen inside hthe house to nurse her back to health. She became so domesticated that she would sit at the kitchen window and tap on the glass to get my attention. I think she was saying, "Let me in there's a chicken chasing dog out here!" Here's hoping Bear will stick with the meanie to chase and leave the girls alone. I wish you lived closer. Husband and his friends would fix your car and you could pay them in food. Like an old fashioned barn raising kind of thing.
He is a Labrador....retriever....right? Just doing his job.
We laughed SO hard at the video...best one yet! We used to have a little mutt (ironically we called her a cracker dog) that would catch and fetch any chicken we wanted. Sure missed her when some skunk ran over her right in our driveway.
That was funny!
Now if I could just teach Togo that "Leave it!" command when he's playing with a kitten...
I think Bear needs his own blog. For instance, it occurred to me that if Bear were blogging about his day Wednesday afternoon, it might look something like this.
Yeah! Dad’s home! Party time! Run, sniff, run, sniff, run sniff. Wait, what’s that? An invader in my yard! I’m gonna getcha you jumping bug! Gotcha. Gotcha again. Run, sniff, run, sniff. Heyyyyy . . . would ya look at that. The chickens are vulnerable. I’m gonna getcha, I’m gonna getcha. Tag, you’re it my feathered friend. Oops. There’s that crazy black one. Come here you! I’m gonna getcha, I’m gonna greetcha, humphra, humphra, drool, slobber, hmmm, tastes like chicken! Ha, I crack myself up! Uh oh, here comes dad. I bet he’s gonna want this chicken back. My chicken, my chicken! Tee-hee!
That is just hilarious!! Love the picture too with his feathered feet sticking out of Bears mouth.
Hope your Jr. feels better soon. It's no fun feelin' icky.
LOL, he licked his lips afterward!
Bear had that same look that our black lab, Alex, used to do when he'd get ahold of something, and I'd try to make him let go. He'd clamp on tighter, and get all stubborn on us. Boy, we had to nip that in the bud. I guess it's a lab trait?
And poor ol' Vader. He needs to watch his back!
On the car repair issue, all I can say is. ugh, I feel for ya, financially! for $3400, i'd sell the car for parts and get another one.
Great live-action video. It's a good thing Bear is a retriever, otherwise Vader would be rooster toast.
Sorry to hear about the Escape, hope you get a better report from the 2nd opinion.
That is one funny video! Bear must be a Baptist since he likes chicken so much ;oP
Bear sure gives you a run!! Cute dog! Good luck with your Escape. I hate car trouble.
Patti
PS Did you ever answer how Princess Layla was?
Speaking of football, back in the day, I recall being very long on speed and very, very short on mass. On receiving a very lofty toss, I remember racing like a crazy demon only to be picked up and carried like a piece of carpet back towards scrimmage. I switched to journalism.
Good luck with the game, Jr's recuperation and the Escape.
hope you get a better estimate, I heard you took it to The Buzzard Place.The place I won't ever step foot on again.
I am in love with your dog...
Did you like the PetSmart obedience school? We have to take Revan somewhere and are debating.
ROTFL!!! Ok that was hysterical!!! Poor Bear did not look happy abt letting go his catch!!!
Labs are definitely bred to have "soft mouths"...when I trained field Labs we'd test them by having them do relay races holding raw eggs...I'm glad that Bear is carrying on the tradition...
Pablo,
He didn't quite get the point.
HT,
Glad you liked it. Link away!
Cathy S,
If they'd fix it for my cooking, I wish we lived closer too!
:)
3C,
I really enjoyed your memory post about the cracker dogs.
Glad you got a laugh out of my goofy dog.
Deb,
At least he "plays" with them.
:)
NativeMom,
ROFL! You channelled him perfectly.
Dani,
Thanks, JR is feeling better now, not well, but not as miserable as this AM.
I like that still photo too.
Laura,
I'm getting one last look at the Escape in case the St Aug guys were ... not right.
Glad you liked the Bear chase!
Robin,
Exactly. That retriever soft mouth instinct saved Vader's butt.
Sharon,
Hah! Bear has never shared his religous DOGma .... wacka.
I'm with him on the chicken thing though.
Patti,
Princess Laya is wonderful. She's been laying eggs in another silly place.
Freste,
Glad you came to your senses.
Thanks for the good luck!
Rick,
I wonder if they thought "here's a guy from out of town, let's take him."
Sayre,
It's completely understandable. He's adorable when he's not shredding everything.
I liked Petsmarts school. They don't have sense enough to turn off the piped in music while the 20 something expert teaches, but I did come away with good techniques from the $100 8 week course.
Lynn,
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. He didn't wait 30 seconds before he was after them again.
Beedancer,
Welcome to Pure Florida! I love field trials... just in awe of what you folks can do with a retriever.
LOL...
NO, NO> NO> NO....
HILARIOUS!
At least you didn't laugh at him. Cause the surelyl was funny. Thanks for the giggle.
JOJO,
I was stifling a laugh during the entire NONONONO discussion!
Oh my, that brings back memories of one of our dogs, Hank. He had a tendency to carry around chickens and box turtles. Once he brought home a neighbor's chicken. Luckily Treebeard persuaded him to release the poor bird and it ran home - tailless, but alive.
Thanks for the laugh.
That was HILARIOUS. Poor Darth Vader. I know he's a bad little rooster but oh the helpless feeling of being carried around in the jaws of a doofy Lab...
I think you understand the story. Togo is the Jaws of Death. :( While that's good for controlling the cat population around here, it ain't good when you have a kitten picked out.
Swampy,
Anytime I can trigger a good dog memory and a laugh, I've done well.
Thank you.
Miz S,
He's bad, but I do have a fondness for Vader ... not so my wife. She wishes him ill.
Deb,
Yikes. No, I could see how that might be a problem.
Oh my god! I saw that pic and thought, "That's no grasshopper!"
I commend you for disciplining him without cracking up. I couldn't have managed that.
Laurahinnj,
That comes from teaching middle schoolers.
I think your presence of mind to video and chase were amazing to say the least. I would have been shrieking at him and everything would have gone very pear shaped. I caught a red fox standing on top of the neighbours chicken coop the other morning. He couldn't get in (although he tried digging underneath as well) but the poor chickens were nearly dying of fear. Great, great video! Thanks for posting. Jane
Hi Jane,
Thanks! If by caught you mean photographed, I need to head to your site!! :)
bear is a hoot! poor vader is going to have some trauma issues, though.
Kathy A,
Bear is a certifiably sweet lunatic.
Vader is fine, but nervous.
Post a Comment